Town and School Budgets Presented to Board Of Finance

Proposed operating and capital budgets for the town and schools in fiscal year 2010-11 were presented to the Board of Finance at the first of two public hearings Monday night.

The presentations were made before an audience of about 40 people in the auditorium of East Ridge Middle School.

Following the presentations, residents were invited to offer comments. About half the attendees spoke, all concerning the proposed budget for schools, which most significantly includes costs for instituting all-day kindergarten.

All but one speaker urged the finance board to approve the schools budget as presented by three members of the Board of Education.

The evening began with First Selectman Rudy Marconi describing the capital and operating budgets the Board of Selectman have agreed upon after hearing appeals by department heads for what they believe it will cost to run the town next year.

The capital budget would amount to nearly $3.7 million, with the highest-cost items including $800,000 to repave roads, $163,000 to repair the Barlow pool, $470,000 to extend a gas line to East Ridge Middle School and Veterans Park Elementary School, $380,000 to replace the boilers in Branchville Elementary School and $445,000 to purchase a new tanker-engine for the Fire Department. Capital budget items are big-ticket purchases expected to remain in service for many years and are mostly paid for by the town issuing municipal bonds.

Marconi noted the town faces additional capital expenditures in the near future, because the police and fire departments want new buildings and a committee is evaluating improvements to the library.

The operating budget prepared by the selectmen calls for a 2.99 percent increase in spending over last year of $901,000, totaling about $30.9 million.

Double digit percentage changes over the current budget would include:

• a 15.87 percent rise for Information Services because of a $29,000 jump in the cost of equipment maintenance

• a more than 15 percent drop in the cost of town insurance

•  a 14 percent increase in community grants

• an 18.7 percent increase in costs for maintaining athletic fields because of a roughly $64,000 increase in salaries

• a 10.3 percent increase in the cost of operating the Barlow Mountain pool because of higher utilities costs

• a 10.5 percent increase in the cost of operating the Fire Department because of higher salaries and an rise in the cost of fuel

• and a 10.5 percent increase in highway support services because of higher costs for diesel fuel and the cost of vehicle parts

Presentation of the proposed operating budget for schools was made by board members John Palermo and Amy Shinohara and Superintendent of Schools Deborah Low.

The total increase for the schools budget next year would amount to about 1.67 percent, with most of the change involving salary increases, Palermo said. A printout of next year's budget distributed before Marconi spoke said the proposed operating budget for schools would result in an increase of 1.37 percent, to $77.82 million.

"There's a lot going on to try and continue to manage the cost of providing a really high quality educational product," Palermo said.

There would be a 2.9 percent overall increase in teachers' salaries, he added.

Palermo said all-day kindergarten would appear to require an increase of eight teachers, but by accounting for a decline in student populations and managing assignments in elementary school staffing, only about five additional teachers would be needed.

And, he added, a major cost savings could be realized if school personnel are convinced to switch from their preferred provider medical insurance to health savings accounts.

"We're hoping that half the teachers move in (to the HSA)," Palermo said. "We've budgeted for a lower amount, and their cost share is at 20 percent for the PPO and 17 percent for the HSA, so there's a little bit of an incentive there for the teachers to migrate in."

Shinohara said the "major educational theme" for next year's proposed budget is full-day kindergarten, noting, "It does involve significant staffing, it does involve one-time costs."

Shinohara said the current two hour and 46 minutes a day of kindergarten "is simply not adequate."

Because the budget presentation occurred on the first night of Passover, a second presentation will be held April 5. The annual town budget meeting will be May 3, 7:30 p.m., at the Ridgefield Playhouse.